Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd.

Recruit Holdings reported first-quarter results for the fiscal year ending March 2027, with operating profit surging 66.1% year on year to 255.4 billion yen. The company sharply raised its full-year operating profit forecast to 945 billion yen from the previous 787 billion yen, pointing to nearly 50% growth from the prior year. The HR Technology segment was the main driver, with the high profitability of its core job platform business leading company-wide profit growth. Revenue rose 18.9% to 1.0453 trillion yen, and net profit attributable to owners of the parent climbed 67.5% to 202.6 billion yen. Following the announcement, the stock price soared more than 20% from the previous trading day.

Zacks Equity Research has identified Recruit Holdings, Iron Mountain, and Verisk Analytics as stocks to watch in the business information services industry. The industry is benefiting from increased technology adoption and demand for risk mitigation, cost reduction, and productivity improvement solutions. Recruit Holdings, with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), saw its fiscal 2026 EPS estimate rise 3.9% to 53 cents, driven by its HR Technology and Marketing Matching Technologies segments. Iron Mountain, rated #3 (Hold), reported a 21.6% revenue increase to $1.94 billion in the first quarter of 2026, with its data center business revenues surging 47.1% to $254.7 million. Verisk Analytics, also a #3 (Hold), is transitioning to a subscription-driven model with over 80% of 2025 revenues from subscriptions, and its 2026 EPS estimate edged up to $7.63.